


The Complicated Mechanics of Domestic Familyhood

by jaztice



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Maybe a little angst, What Have I Done, coran the weird uncle, fem pronouns for pidge, i fell in love and now i'm going to write an ongoing story for it, it's that CEO and Dad of Four AU i saw on tumblr okay, lance is still a little shit he's just the size of a bean, we'll see where this takes us
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2016-07-08
Packaged: 2018-07-21 22:35:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7407850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaztice/pseuds/jaztice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shiro is a security guard and a father of four. Allura is the new CEO of a powerful company. And of course, they fall in love over outsmarting Galra business dealers and crafty second graders.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ice Cream

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to Shallura Hell, population me and hopefully also you
> 
> Inspiration ---> http://hawberries.tumblr.com/post/146874230542

“Shiro, I want to go to the park!”

Shiro sighed and smiled, trying not to let exhaustion get the better of him. Weekends were always rough. He enjoyed them of course, but he was always exhausted by the end of them. Being a single dad with four kids kind of did that to a person.

“Lance, you _always_ want to go to the park,” Hunk complained, rifling through the snack bin. “Can’t we stay at home? Please?”

“No! I want to play knights with Keith again.”

“I’m still going to beat you!” Keith yelled, jumping on the couch.

“Keith, stop jumping on the couch!” Shiro said, struggling to peel Pidge off his leg. “Pidge, please let go.”

“No, I want the iPad.”

“ _Pidge_.”

She huffed and did as he asked, climbing to her feet. Pidge was the youngest at six, and the smallest, but she was by far the smartest of all Shiro’s kids. She was also the most attached to the iPad – most of the games on there were hers. Shiro wasn’t even sure how she’d managed to download them all.

“Can we go to the park? Please?” Lance begged, jumping up and down.  
“Please, please, please?”

“ _Yes_ , Lance, we can go to the park,” Shiro said, exasperated. Lance whooped and ran to the door, immediately shoving on his shoes.

Hunk pouted and groaned, but he knew better than to argue. Instead, he just started stuffing chocolate granola bars into his pockets.

“Hunk, it’s close to lunch time, don’t take so many,” Shiro said as Keith and Pidge followed Lance to put on their shoes.

“But what if I get hungry?”

Shiro just sighed again, and Hunk grinned and took a few more before running to put his shoes on as well.

It was only a short walk to the park, thankfully, and Shiro didn’t have to worry about losing the kids in the neighborhood. Lance managed to convince Keith to race him there, which sent all four of them running to the park with Shiro barely managing to keep up. Once they reached the playground, Shiro sat down on a bench while the boys all began climbing on the play set. Pidge joined him on the bench and convinced him to hand over his phone.

“Don’t delete any of my apps,” he warned her.

“I’m not stupid, Shiro,” she said, her eyes focused on the phone screen. He just smiled and shook his head.

It was about noon, so most of the neighborhood families were off getting lunch, leaving the playground pretty much empty. Lance and Keith seemed to be playing tag, with Hunk as an unwilling participant. They eventually convinced Pidge to join in too. It was pretty fun to watch, Shiro had to admit. Lance had been it for a while and just kept chasing Keith. Pidge was sitting on top of the monkey bars, far out of reach. Hunk was hiding by the swings.

Eventually, Lance ran out of steam and started asking for food, which set everyone else off too. Shiro bought them all lunch from a food truck nearby, and they sat and ate in the park. Lance kept throwing his fries at Keith.

“Shiro, make him stop!” Keith complained, trying to dodge Lance’s attacks.

“Lance, don’t throw food at your brother.”

“Technically, he’s not my _real_ brother,” Lance reasoned.

“Lance, don’t throw food at your adopted brother.”

“Aw man, come on!”

“Seriously, Lance, knock it off,” Hunk said, scowling. “You’re wasting perfectly good fries!”

“I am not! I’m feeding the birds.”

“Lance,” Shiro said, glaring at him. The boy huffed and dropped his next fry onto his plate, giving Keith the evil eye. Keith stuck his tongue out at him in response.

After a while, they all went back to the playground again, but an ice cream truck rolled up before they could really get started playing. Shiro sighed – he knew where this was going.

“Can we get ice cream, Shiro? Please?”

“Pretty please? Pretty please with a cherry on top?”

“ _Pleeeeeeeeeeeease?_ ”

“We ate all our food at lunch, we should get desert!”

There was no way he could win this argument, Shiro knew that for sure. Four kids against one dad wasn’t even an argument. He said yes, they could get ice cream, and everyone ran around excitedly as he walked up to the truck and pulled out his wallet.

“What would you like today?” the ice cream man asked, smiling as he watched the kids run up to the truck.

“Four kids cones please,” Shiro said before turning to his kids. “What flavors does everyone want?”

“Double dark chocolate!” Lance yelled.

“Cookie dough!” Hunk said.

“Mint chocolate chip!” Pidge.

“Vanilla.” And that was Keith.

The ice cream man nodded and started scooping out the orders while Shiro looked through his wallet, his stomach sinking. He checked the prices again and searched his pockets. Nothing, not even a few quarters. This wasn’t good.

“I uh, wait,” he said. The man in the truck paused. “I don’t… have enough money. Just, hold on a second.”

He turned around and knelt down closer to his kids, trying to ignore the man scowling behind him.

“Hey, kids?” he said, calling them over. The four of them ran over, smiles starting to fade when they saw Shiro’s face. He hated it when that happened. Hated it. Letting them down was the last thing he wanted to do.

“What’s wrong, Shiro?” Pidge asked, her eyes wide behind her glasses. “Can we not get ice cream?”

“Well…” He bit his lip, thinking. “We can, but, uh. Would you guys be okay sharing one bowl of ice cream? It can only be one flavor though.”

Their faces fell, obviously disappointed, and Shiro wanted to hit something. Probably himself. He shouldn’t have promised them ice cream without checking his wallet first, that was stupid, stupid and dumb and ridiculous. How could he have done this? Promising them something and then taking it away was worse than never letting them have it at all.

None of them were pitching a fit though, which was something. But their sad little faces were almost worse.

“Yeah, that’s okay,” Hunk said, obviously crestfallen. But he tried to smile. “We can have vanilla! Everyone likes vanilla.”

“Yeah, but–” Lance began, but he just sighed. “Yeah, okay, vanilla.”

“Vanilla is good,” Pidge added.

Shiro sighed and nodded. “Okay,” he said. “I’m sorry guys, I should’ve checked my wallet before I told you we were getting ice cream.”

“It’s okay, Shiro, it’s not your fault,” Keith said, smiling. “Besides, you’re getting us ice cream anyway.”

“Yeah! You’re still my favorite parent,” Lance said.

Shiro raised an eyebrow. “Lance, I’m your only parent.”

“Yeah, but still.”

“Hey!” The ice cream man banged on the inside of his truck, and Shiro jumped and turned around. “You getting ice cream or what?”

“Yeah, sorry, just a second.” Shiro dug around in his wallet, trying to find the correct amount of money. “We’ll uh, we’ll take one cup of–”

“Actually, he’ll take four kids cones please. I’ll pay.”

Shiro’s head lifted in surprise.

The woman next to him was someone he’d never seen before. She had dark skin, white hair, and pink markings under her eyes that must’ve been tattoos of some sort. Her hair was up in a bun, and she wore a crisp business suit with a purse over one shoulder. She had a briefcase in one hand. In the other was a ten-dollar bill.

It took Shiro a second to refocus on what he was about to say.

“You… uh.” He stared at her. “You don’t have to – it’s okay, I can–”

“No, no, it’s perfectly alright, trust me,” she said, smiling. The woman had a strange accent – British, maybe? “Your kids looked so crestfallen I, well, here. I’ll just pay.”

“It’s really okay,” Shiro said quickly, “honestly, you don’t have to–”

“Is she going to get us ice cream?!” Lance yelled, a huge smile on his face.

Well, there went that argument.

“Lance,” Shiro said, turning towards him, “please.”

“She’s going to get us ice cream! Guys, the pretty lady is going to buy us ice cream!”

Shiro wanted to congratulate himself on not strangling the kid while out in public, but he figured that would give the “pretty lady” the wrong impression. Not that she wasn’t pretty, because she was. She was definitely pretty. He just… wasn’t sure how to feel at the moment. There were too many emotions to deal with. Flustered, for example. And embarrassed.

The woman, however, just laughed and handed the now irritated ice cream man her ten-dollar bill. When she turned back to Shiro, smiling brightly, he almost forgot how to breathe.

_Focus, Shiro._

“I’m glad at least one of your children thinks I’m pretty,” she said, giggling a little. It was adorable.

“Oh, that’s uh, that’s Lance,” Shiro replied, trying to find something to say. “He flirts with everyone.”

“He does? How old is he?”

“Seven.” Shiro shrugged and grinned, reaching up to take two cones from the ice cream man’s hands. “Yeah, I’m… not sure where he got that from.”

The woman laughed again and took the other two cones, helping Shiro distribute them to the kids now pooling at their feet. As soon as they had their ice cream, they were off again, running carefully through the park to the picnic table they’d eaten lunch on. Pidge stayed behind next to Shiro.

“Thank you so much,” Shiro said, rubbing Pidge’s head with one hand. He could feel his face burning a little from embarrassment. “Really. I’ll pay you back.”

“Oh no, it’s fine, don’t worry.” The woman smiled again and shook her head. “I have plenty to spare.”

Shiro nodded, suddenly finding it difficult to look the woman in the eye. He didn’t even know her name, he realized. That was probably something he should ask. But Pidge, in all her adorable glory, beat him to it.

“What’s your name?” she asked, eating her ice cream and smiling up at the woman.

She laughed again and knelt down so she and Pidge were eye to eye. “I’m Allura,” she said. “And what’s your name?”

“Pidge!” she said excitedly. “I’m Pidge, and I’m six!” Pidge tried to hold up six fingers, but the ice cream cone in her hand wobbled dangerously. Shiro immediately knelt down next to her and steadied it.

“Whoa there, kid,” he said, and Pidge’s grip on her cone returned. “Don’t drop the ice cream the nice lady bought for you. What do you say?”

“Oh, yeah! Thank you!”

Allura nodded. “You’re welcome, Pidge,” she said. Pidge grinned and ran over to the picnic table to join the boys, leaving Shiro and Allura alone.

He stood and held out his hand to help her up, which she took gratefully. Her hand was slender, but her grip was stronger than he’d expected. Shiro smiled.

“Allura’s a nice name,” he said, still holding her hand. “I’m uh, I’m Shiro. Takashi Shirogane.” He shook her hand and dropped his grip, feeling his face turn red. Why hadn’t he let go of her hand? Idiot.

“It’s nice to meet you, Shiro,” she answered. “I… heard your kids call you that, are you not–”

“Oh, no.” He grinned sheepishly and stuck his hands in his pockets. “I’m not their biological father. It’s uh, it’s kind of obvious I guess.”

“No, no, I just, I didn’t want to assume.”

“Oh.”

They both fell silent for a moment, awkwardly trying to think of something to say. Shiro laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Uh, thank you for doing that,” he said again. “Buying them ice cream. I’m really grateful, honestly. I should’ve checked my wallet before walking over, I just–”

“Shiro, it’s okay,” Allura assured him. “Don’t worry about it. I’m happy to have helped.”

He nodded and sighed, trying to calm his nerves. What was wrong with him? He wasn’t usually so jittery.

Maybe it was Allura. Every time she smiled, Shiro’s brain seemed to fizzle out.

“Would uh…” Shiro trailed off, gesturing vaguely towards the picnic table. “Would you like to come sit down? I’m sure my kids would love to meet you.”

“Oh, absolutely!” Allura smiled, and Shiro led her over to the table, the two of them sitting down across from each other near the end. As soon as they arrived, the kids started peppering Allura with questions, ice cream covering their mouths. Thank god Shiro had thought to stuff a few napkins in his pocket from lunch.

“Your name’s Allura?” Keith asked, titling his head curiously. “That’s a weird name.”

“ _Keith_ ,” Shiro said, but Allura just laughed.

“Yes, I suppose it is,” she answered. “Though it’s not weird where I come from.”

“Where do you come from?” Pidge asked.

“A small country in Africa called Altea. I actually only moved to the United States a few months ago.”

“Really?” Shiro’s interest was piqued now. “Why’d you move?”

“My job,” she said with a shrug. “I work for Voltron Incorporated, and their main hub–”

“Is here, right.” Shiro nodded, understanding. “That’s cool! Voltron is a good company.”

Allura smiled proudly. “Yes,” she said. “What do you do, Shiro?”

“He’s a security guard!” Hunk answered before Shiro could even open his mouth. “He works at the Fernbank Museum.”

“A security guard? Really?” Allura seemed surprised. “I wouldn’t have guessed.”

“Yeah, well.” Shiro shrugged again. “It pays the bills. Mostly. And I get to spend most of my days with these little guys, so it’s worth it. I actually applied for a security guard position at Voltron a few weeks ago.”

“Did you?” Allura smiled. “You want to work for the company?”

“Oh, yeah of course! It’s a great company. One of the few out there, to be perfectly honest. And it pays better than Fernbank, so I can buy these little gremlins as much ice cream as they want.”

Shiro rubbed Keith’s head and the kid laughed, biting into his cone. Allura’s eyes grew warmer.

“You care about them a lot,” she said.

“Oh, they’re my whole world,” he replied. “I don’t know what I’d do without them.”

“Is there a mother?”

“No, just me.” Shiro sighed. “It’s… tough, sometimes, but I love them a lot.”

Allura smiled and turned towards the kids, most of whom had finished their ice cream and were now running around on sugar highs, screaming and laughing. “How’d you end up with four children anyway?” she asked. “If... you don’t mind me asking.”

“Oh it’s fine, don’t worry,” Shiro said. “It’s uh… well, it started with Pidge. I was her godfather, and when her family died, I adopted her. And then, Keith is my nephew, and Hunk and Lance were my parents’ new foster kids, so when… um…”

He paused, not really sure how to continue. It’d been three years, three surprisingly fast years, but Shiro still had trouble talking about what had happened. It wasn’t easy to say, especially not to someone he’d just met.

But Allura seemed to understand. She reached across the table and held his hand, squeezing it.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, it’s okay, trust me.” Shiro pushed past the block and smiled. “It was three years ago. And, well, now I have these little guys, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world.”

Allura nodded, her gaze lost somewhere in space. She squeezed his hand again.

“I… actually lost my father a year ago,” she said softly. “He was the only family I had left, so… I know how it feels.”

Shiro rubbed his thumb against her hand. “I’m sorry,” he said.

“It’s alright.”

They stayed silent for a while, listening to the kids run around the park screaming and jumping, and smile spread on Allura’s face. She squeezed Shiro’s hand one final time and let go.

“I should leave,” she said, standing up. “I’ll be late to my meeting if I don’t.”

“Oh.” Shiro felt his stomach twist and stood up as well. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you this long.”

“It’s fine! I rather enjoyed it, actually.” Allura smiled and swung her purse over her shoulder, picking the briefcase up off the ground. “Your children are lovely.”

“Yeah, well.” Shiro laughed a little. “You haven’t seen me trying to make them take a bath.”

Allura laughed again, and Shiro couldn’t help but laugh too, staring at her smile. She was beautiful, really, truly beautiful. He wondered if he should take the risk and ask for her number. But what if she was married or something?

“Miss Allura! Are you leaving?” Hunk asked, running up to the pair as fast as he could. Keith, Lance, and Pidge were close behind.

Allura nodded and knelt down again so she was level with the kids, all of them out of breath as they caught up to Hunk. “Yes, I have to go,” she told them. “But maybe I’ll see you again, if your father gets a new job at Voltron.”

“Really?” Pidge started jumping up and down again, clinging to Keith’s arm. “That’d be so cool! We could see you all the time!”

“Kids, what do you say to Miss Allura?” Shiro asked, smiling down at them.

“Thank you!” they said together. They all grinned, their faces making Allura laugh again as she stood up.

“You’re welcome,” she said before turning to Shiro. “Thank you for the chat, Shiro, it was nice. I’ll see if I can do anything about your job application.”

“Oh, you don’t need to do that,” he said immediately, but he smiled. _Does this mean she wants to see me again?_ “Honestly, it’s fine. You already bought my kids ice cream.”

“But that was for them, Shiro.” Allura reached forward and squeezed his hand again. “This is for you.”

He felt his face grow a little warmer, but he held her gaze. “Just for me?” he asked.

“We’ll see.”

Allura let go of his hand and walked away, waving goodbye as she walked down the sidewalk. Shiro watched her go, sighing once she disappeared from view.

When he turned around, Lance had the biggest evil grin on his face.

“Shiro has a crush!” he sang, dancing around. “Shiro has a crush!”

“Wait, what?” Keith asked. Shiro felt his face turn bright red.

“Lance, no. Stop,” he said. Lance just cackled and skipped around in a circle, continuing to sing. There was no stopping him now, was there.

“He’s right though, isn’t he?” Pidge tugged at his pant leg, smiling up at him. “You got a crush on Allura!”

Shiro sighed and stared down the sidewalk, hoping Allura was far enough away not to hear Lance’s incessant singing, but at the same time wishing she’d come back.

“Yeah,” he said. “I guess I do.”


	2. First Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you guys for all the amazing comments!!! i'm so glad people like this au, it's so fun to write.
> 
> this chapter ended up being way longer than i expected it to be so whoops. excuse any typos and stuff. i also probably won't be able to update for a while, but i'll try. thanks guys!

Three days later, Shiro got a call from Voltron Inc. saying he’d gotten a job as a security agent for their main building. He was ecstatic; so were the kids, of course, but that was mainly because they wanted to see Allura again. Not that Shiro didn’t want to see her too, he was just thinking practically. This job was financially more stable and closer to their home. With some luck and smart budgeting, he might even be able to buy a new house in a few years. A bigger one, so Pidge wouldn’t have to share a room with the boys once they got older.

Of course, he was also excited to see Allura again. He wished he’d asked her what she did at Voltron, or at least what floor she worked on. But he was bound to bump into her eventually, right?

“Are you going to see Allura today?” Keith asked, zipping up his school backpack. It was Shiro’s first day at Voltron, and the kids could tell he was nervous. “I bet you do see her, I bet she’s waiting for you.”

“Keith, that’s ridiculous, she has her own job,” Shiro said, helping Pidge lace up her shoes. She’d jumped in a mud puddle the other day and they’d had to wash them.

“Yeah, but she probably helped you get YOUR job!” Pidge reasoned. “I bet she _is_ waiting for you.”

“Waiting for you to _kiss her!_ ” Lance said, sticking his tongue out from behind the counter.

“Ha, ha, Lance. Put your shoes on.”

He somehow managed to get all four kids to school and still get to work on time, a fact he was pretty proud of. Once he got to the building, the receptionist pointed him in the right direction; by nine o’clock, he was dressed in his new uniform, ready to go. Hopefully. He wasn’t quite sure where he was supposed to go yet. Were they going to get briefed? Did they have a post schedule? Something?

His questions were answered when an obviously seasoned guard came up and grabbed him by the shoulder, pulling him out of the break room without so much as a handshake.

“You the new kid? Good,” the guy said, pulling Shiro towards the elevator. “You’ll be tagging along with me today. Name’s Rolo.”

“Uh… Shiro,” he replied, glancing around. “Nice to meet you.”

“Hm.”

They boarded the elevator and rode up, Rolo rattling off a few important things – where the schedules were, when breaks were, who the security chief was and where to find him. Apparently, the chief was busy up on the top floor, securing a meeting with the CEO, which was why Rolo was bringing Shiro up to meet him.

“Are we going to help him?” Shiro asked, watching the floor number slowly rise higher and higher.

“Dunno, probably. Watch out though, Iverson’s kind of an ass.”

“He is? In what way?”

The elevator doors dinged open and revealed a tall, well-built man with a scowling expression and a short beard. Unlike the other security guards, he wore a hat with the company’s insignia and a special badge. His eyes zeroed in on Shiro immediately.

“Don’t just stand there like an idiot, newbie. Get out of the elevator.”

Oh.

Shiro did as he was told, with Rolo following him close behind. Iverson sized them both up, still scowling, and Shiro got the distinct impression this guy was ex-military.

Something they had in common, no doubt, but Shiro doubted it’d get him any brownie points with this guy.

“What’s your name?” Iverson finally asked, arms crossed.

“Takashi Shirogane, sir,” Shiro answered, consciously trying to stand up straighter.

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-six.”

“Have you done guard jobs before?”

“Yes sir, at the Fernbank.”

Iverson snorted, and Shiro felt a twinge of annoyance. Rolo just rolled his eyes, smirking a little.

“Fernbank, huh?” Iverson sneered. “The kids’ museum? Please. This job’s a little more high risk than that.”

“It… is?” Shiro raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

Iverson shook his head. “Rolo, you explain,” he said, turning away. “I have to go watch the meeting. You two stand out here and don’t let anyone in without proper ID, understand?”

“Sir, yes sir,” Rolo said, continuing to smirk as Iverson left. Shiro felt himself relax once he was out of view.

“Well,” he said, “he’s… something.”

Rolo chuckled. “Yeah, that’s putting it lightly,” he said. “Guy’s had a stick up his ass since the day he was born. But hey, he didn’t yell at you right off the bat, that’s a good start.”

Shiro nodded, his mind wandering somewhere else. “What did he mean before?” he asked. “About this job being high risk?”

“Oh, yeah. That.” Rolo scratched the back of his head, glancing towards the elevator doors. “Well, see, Voltron Inc. is one of the few companies left that hasn’t been taken over by Galra. You know Galra, right?”

“Isn’t it that huge business conglomerate?” Shiro asked.

“Yep. Apparently, they’ve got their fingers in almost everything imaginable and have been slowly strangling all the other companies. And they’re vicious. If you believe the rumors, Galra isn’t above kidnapping and killing people that get in their way. The whole damn company is shrouded in this evil cover-up type deal. A few guys even think they’re bribing one or two congressmen.”

“Wow, that’s…” Shiro blinked, processing all this. “Bad. And… we’re worried because we’re one of the few companies left standing?”

“Oh, it’s more than that,” Rolo said. “Voltron’s always stood in Galra’s way, but this new CEO is starting to take the fight to them. Presumably, her father was taken out by Galra-hired operatives about a year ago, and she’s been trying to gain as much evidence as she can to take them down. But she’s attracting attention. Iverson’s worried she’ll end up the same way as her father if she keeps going like this, but she sure as hell isn’t going to stop.”

“Wow, she… sounds pretty great,” Shiro said, smiling. He wondered if he’d have the opportunity to meet her.

Rolo saw Shiro’s smile and laughed, slapping him on the shoulder. “Don’t get any ideas, pretty boy,” he said. “Iverson’ll kill you if you try to flirt with her.”

“I don’t want to flirt with her!” Shiro said, shaking his head and laughing. “I just, I mean, she sounds really brave and everything. Especially after losing her dad like that, I can’t even imagine.”

“Yeah, that was a pretty dark day for the company,” Rolo admitted. His voice became a little more somber. “Alfor was the former CEO, and when he died, everyone was really worried Galra would finally take over. But his daughter stepped in and got everyone back together. It was amazing. I’ve worked here for twelve years, and Allura is by far the best CEO we’ve ever had.”

The smile slipped off Shiro’s face.

_Allura?_

“Wait, what?” he asked, his heart hammering. No, no way. He’d heard him wrong. That was not possible, no way in hell.

“Yeah, Allura,” Rolo said, grinning. “She’s the new CEO. She actually just moved here a few months ago from… what was it? Atea?”

“Altea?” Shiro asked, dread building in his chest.

“Yeah, Altea.” Rolo gave him a weird look. “How’d you know?”

“I…” Shiro couldn’t believe this. “I think–”

“Coran! Do you have the spreadsheets? I need them for the meeting!”

Shiro froze. That was Allura’s voice, loud and clear and coming from barely a room away. He could hear high-heeled footsteps walking towards the elevators.

Rolo blinked. “Well, what do you know,” he said, “that’s her right now.”

“I need to go to the bathroom,” Shiro blurted out.

He practically ran towards the other side of the room, Rolo asking him what was wrong as he left, and ducked behind a wall just as Allura stepped into view. Shiro pressed his back against the wall, hoping she hadn’t seen him.

“Oh, hello Rolo,” Allura said kindly, her footsteps stopping. “Have you seen Coran?”

“Uh, no, sorry Miss Allura,” Rolo replied.

“That’s alright, I’ll just find him myself.” She sighed, and then paused. “By the way, who were you talking to?”

“Oh, uh…” Shiro’s heart skipped a beat as Rolo searched for an answer. “Just another guard. Don’t worry about it.”

“Oh, alright.” Allura walked back the way she came, her heels clicking against the floor. “Thank you, Rolo.”

“No problem, Miss Allura!”

Shiro waited until the sound of her heels was gone before banging the back of his head against the wall and groaning. This was not happening.

A second later, Rolo stuck his head around the corner and nearly scared Shiro half to death.

“What the hell was that?” he asked.

Shiro groaned and banged his head on the wall again. Great.

* * *

He ended up telling Rolo the whole story – aka, how the CEO of Voltron Incorporated, his new _boss_ , had bought his kids ice cream in a park the other day and he’d had no idea. Shiro wasn’t really sure how to feel about this. Rolo thought it was hilarious.

“She offered to speed up your application?” Rolo asked with a grin. “Damn, she must’ve really liked you.”

“What makes you say that?” Shiro asked.

“Well,” Rolo shrugged, “I mean, we are pretty worried about security, especially her. It’s hard to get a job here, and it’s basically impossible if you have any ties to Galra _at all_. If she helped your application get through, especially after talking to you for what, five minutes? She must’ve thought you were pretty trustworthy.”

“Oh.” Shiro still wasn’t quite sure how to feel. “Huh.”

“Don’t worry about it, man,” Rolo said, slapping Shiro’s shoulder again. “You probably shouldn’t tell Iverson though; he hates people who get in thanks to favoritism. But you’ll probably get to meet her again pretty soon.”

“Wait, I will? Why?” Shiro asked.

“Well, Allura likes to meet every new hire to the building personally,” Rolo answered. “You’ll probably have a meeting with her at the end of the day.”

Shiro nodded. _A meeting with her at the end of the day._

Well, at least now he knew what floor she worked on.

* * *

Rolo was right; at about four thirty pm, Iverson came up to Shiro in the lobby and told him he had a meeting with the CEO immediately. When Shiro asked why, Iverson told him it was standard for new hires to meet the CEO on their first or second day, and that the meeting would take at most half an hour. Shiro nodded and headed up, nervously tapping his foot the whole ride in the elevator.

There wasn’t anyone else on the floor, thankfully, not even a secretary. Allura’s office was right next to the elevators, next to a meeting room, the door slightly ajar.

Shiro took a deep breath and knocked on the doorframe, pushing the door open with his other hand.

Allura sat at a desk directly across from him, her hair still up in a bun and a pen in her hand. When she looked up from her desk and saw Shiro, she smiled. It still made him want to melt.

“Hello, Shiro,” she said, putting her pen down.

He stayed in the doorway, smiling back. “Hello, _Miss_ Allura.”

She laughed a little, shaking her head, and gestured for him to come in. “You don’t have to call me that, Shiro, Allura’s fine,” she said.

“Alright, Allura it is.” He stepped inside and rubbed the back of his neck nervously, still smiling. “I uh, didn’t realize you were the CEO.”

“Oh, right I…” Allura bit her lip. “I forgot to mention that. I apologize. I didn’t want you to… it doesn’t matter.”

“No, it’s okay,” Shiro said immediately. He could tell Allura had left it out intentionally – she didn’t want him to treat her differently. She probably had to worry about that a lot, being the head of a major company. And considering his reaction, well, he couldn’t exactly blame her. “I was just a little surprised. I didn’t realize the CEO of my new job had just bought my kids ice cream.”

Allura laughed again, and something in Shiro’s chest swelled; he really liked making her laugh. He sat down in the chair across from her and rubbed his hands together, trying to think of something to say.

“So,” Allura began after a moment, “how was your first day?”

“It was fine,” he said. “Normal. Ish. I mean I mainly just stood in the lobby the whole day. Not a lot of excitement.”

“Oh. Well, I’m sure it was better than my day,” Allura said. “Meetings all morning and afternoon. I was about ready to stab someone in the last one.”

“Probably shouldn’t do that, it’d hurt investor relationships with the company.”

“Very true, very true.” Allura cracked a smile.

Shiro smiled back, and then a thought occurred to him. He coughed.

“So, uh,” he began, “I heard about Galra. The company. How you’re fighting them and everything.”

Some of the laughter in Allura’s eyes faded, and Shiro wanted to kick himself. _Idiot_ , he thought _, those Galra people are the ones that probably killed her father. Great job, reminding her of that. Really_.

Allura sighed heavily, her shoulders sinking. “Yes, it’s… an upward battle, let’s just say that,” she said. “But we’re getting somewhere. We’ve acquired some of their assets and…” She paused, her face turning red. “Oh, I’m sorry. You probably don’t want to talk about that.”

“No, it’s okay,” Shiro said, giving her a reassuring smile. “If you need to talk about it you should.”

“Oh I don’t, trust me,” Allura replied. “I just… it’s a lot to handle all at once. Especially now that…” She stopped. “Never mind. We’re not here to talk about me, are we?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t mind talking about you,” Shiro blurted before he could stop himself. Allura blinked and gave him a look, a smile pulling at the edges of her mouth. Once again, Shiro wanted to kick himself.

 _Smooth as chunky peanut butter, Shiro_.

“Anyway,” he said quickly, trying to change the subject, “I uh, I heard from Rolo that security is pretty tight around here.”

Allura had a look in her eye that told Shiro his comment wasn’t being forgotten any time soon, but she did the courteous thing and ignored it for the time being. Thank god. Shiro probably wouldn’t have been able to handle the embarrassment.

“Yes,” Allura replied, “we do take security rather seriously here. Well, that’s mostly Coran’s doing. He’s very worried about me, taking on the Galra Empire after… what happened to my father.”

She paused, sadness flickering in her eyes, but it disappeared a second later and she continued.

“He hired that Iverson man, and he’s been asking for increased security ever since I arrived in the country. It’s a little irritating, if I’m honest.”

“Are the Galra really that dangerous?” Shiro asked, concerned. What exactly was Allura getting herself into?

“Well… yes, I suppose.” Allura picked up her pen and began twirling it in her fingers. “But they wouldn’t do anything risky enough to endanger my life, not now. If they did, it’d simply give me more evidence to use against them. And if I die somehow, while trying to unearth their illegal dealings, the implications are strong enough for someone else to take the helm and dig deeper into their company.”

“So they are a danger, just not right now,” Shiro simplified. “Hence the security.”

Allura sighed and shook her head. “Yes,” she said. “And we somehow ended up back on the topic of the Galra Corporation. It seems to keep dredging itself up.”

“Well, without it being a danger, I probably wouldn’t be here,” Shiro reasoned. Allura nodded in agreement, smiling. He wondered if that smile had anything to do with him, or if he was just being hopeful.

Silence for a minute, before another thought popped into Shiro’s head.

“By the way,” he said, “I was wondering… Rolo told me it takes a lot for someone to get accepted as part of the security team for your building. They have this whole screening process and everything, and, well, I wanted to know–”

“Why I let you join so easily?” Allura smiled, and Shiro had a feeling she expected him to ask this question. “It’s rather simple, Shiro; I trust you.”

He stared at her. “You just met me,” he said. “You can’t just trust people right off the bat like that, it’s dangerous.”

“Yes, but I trust you nonetheless.”

“Allura, I could be a Galra spy or an assassin or something, you can’t–”

“Are you?” Her turquoise crystal eyes locked onto Shiro’s own, trapping him with their gaze.

“Well…” He shrugged and looked away. “No, but–”

“Then I trust you.”

He stared at her, narrowing his eyes. “Why?” he asked. “What is it about me that makes me so trustworthy?”

Allura smiled and put her pen back down on the desk. “Shiro,” she said, “one of the few things I’ve learned as an adult is to trust the instincts of young children. Your children all love you a lot, and they trust you a great deal. Most people who wish to hurt others don’t illicit that reaction from kids so young.”

“But…” It was his kids? That was why she trusted him? “They could be lying, or actors, or–”

“But they aren’t.”

He stared at her.

“How do you know?” he asked.

She shrugged. “I can tell these kinds of things, Shiro,” she said. “I learned how to read people at a very young age. Besides, would someone who had come to hurt me keep insisting I raise my guard? Or give me excuses to suspect him?”

Shiro paused. She had a point.

“Shiro,” Allura sighed, “going through life not trusting anyone is a horrible way to live. I don’t plan on doing it, no matter how much Coran wants me to. Most people are good people. That’s what my father believed, and that’s what I believe.”

“Even if you end up getting hurt?” Shiro asked.

Allura nodded. “Yes,” she said. “Although with people like you in security, I doubt I will.”

Shiro shook his head, but he was smiling. This woman really was something, wasn’t she?

“Who’s Coran?” he asked after a moment. “I’ve heard you mention him before.”

“Oh.” Allura’s smile widened. “Yes, Coran. He’s my advisor. And my uncle, sort of, although more because he’s known me for most of my life. We aren’t actually related. He’s from Altea as well.”

Shiro nodded, letting this sink in. “That’s cool,” he said. “What’s he like?”

“A mess,” Allura answered, laughing a little. “But he knows what he’s doing. And he’s always been very protective of me, especially with… my father gone, and all.”

Shiro nodded again, smiling. He was glad Allura still had some family left, even if it was a whacky uncle. At least she was still happy.

Allura checked her watch, and her eyes widened. “Oh my,” she said, “it’s almost five o’clock. I should probably let you go.”

“Oh.” Shiro felt a little disappointed, but Allura was right. He had to leave, his shift was almost over. “Right. Sorry, I didn’t mean to hold you up.”

“You weren’t holding me up,” Allura said a little too quickly. When Shiro gave her a look, she covered it up with a smile. “I just meant you… probably need to pick you children up. From school.”

“Right, yes.” Shiro stood up, hoping his smile wasn’t as awkward as it felt. “They’re in an after school daycare program, so, you know. It’s uh…” Shiro stopped. _Why did you tell her that? That’s not important, she doesn’t care._

“Oh, interesting.” Allura nodded. “Um. You should probably–”

“Right! Leaving, sorry.” Shiro rubbed the back of his neck again and headed for the door, nearly tripping over his chair on the way there. He heard Allura stifle a laugh and felt his face burn.

“Uh.” Shiro paused in the doorway and turned around. “Thank you, Allura. I’ll uh, I’ll see you later I guess?”

“Yes! That um…” Allura seemed just as nerve-wracked as Shiro was, if not more. “That sounds great. Thank you.”

Shiro nodded, not trusting himself to say another word without stuttering, and left the room. He didn’t realize what Allura had told him until after he got on the elevator a minute later, still reeling a little from embarrassment.

_You weren’t holding me up._

Shiro smiled; Allura was kind of cute when she was nervous like that. He doubted it happened often, what with her being the CEO of a company.

Then another thought hit him.

_I have a pathetic puppy crush on the CEO of a major company._

_She’s my_ boss.

Shiro put his head in his hands and groaned; this was not going to end well.


End file.
